Cleft nail or like extractor.



C. W. FINNEY.

CLEFT NAIL 0R LIKE EXTRACTOR. APPLICATION FILED APR.- 12. 1915. RENEWED JULY 5. 1916.

Pate

nted Feb. 6, 191? GUBTISS W. FINNEY, OF SPUKANE, WASHINGTON.

OLEF'I NAIL OR, LIKE EX TBACTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 191% Application filed April 12, 1915, Serial No. 20,845. Renewed July 5, 1916. Serial No. 107,693.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CURTIss W. FINNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of IVashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cleft Nail or like Extractors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in cleft nail or like extractors of the claw type which is sometimes embodied in the struc ture of a hammer but which is also constructed for use, especially in the more heavy work of extracting spikes, as a claw per se.

The object of this invention is to provide an extractor having cooperating claws, one of which is movable with respect to the other, whereby a more efiective wedge grip may be obtained on the nail or spike at any point along the shank thereof than could be possibly obtained if the coacting claws were both fixed or stationary.

It is a further object of my invention to pivot the movable claw and to provide a spring normally holding the pivoted claw in structural engagement with the extractor body but permitting movement of the pivot ed claw out of such structural engagement as the claws are advanced along the shank of the nail or spike to obtain an extracting g 1 is a further object of my invention to provide structural abutments for supporting the pivoted claw, under strain, with a view of relieving the pivot of practically all of the extracting strain and throwing such stress or strain directly from the pivoted claw to the extractor body.

Other objects and features of the invention will be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawing and will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a view in side elevation showing a hammer equipped with the device of my invention,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof,

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the pivoted claw detached from the hammer,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line l-1 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a sectional Fig. 1.

Like characters of reference designate view on line 55 of similar parts throughout the different figures of the drawing.

In the particular embodiment illustrated, the invention is shown incorporated in the structure of a claw hammer and while this form is advantageous, it will be understood that the hammer portion of the structure really forms no part of my invention and therefore I will refer to the hammer as an extractor body of the claw type. In order to render certain terms of limitation in the following claims clear, I will refer to the extractor body as having a handle axis a, a body axis Z) and I will refer to that portion of the claw having a convexly rounded face as the prying side, as designated at 0 and to the other side as designated at (Z, as the lifting side of the claw.

Thus the extractor body is indicated at 1 V and is provided with a suitably formed bore or handle receiving passage for taking the end of a handle 2, which may be locked therein by means indicated at 3. The ex tractor body is provided with a fixed claw 4 which is chamfered on its inner face 5 to providea gripping edge 6. The gripping edge 6 is not parallel with the outside face 7 as will be seen by reference to Fig. 2, by reason of the transverse taper which begins at the crotch end 8, of the fixed claw and terminates at the terminal end of said claw so as to provide the latter with a gripping edge 6 of a one part wedge form.

The extractor body 1 is forked to form a shank receiving cavity 9 extending from the crotch 8', inwardly toward the handle 2, at an oblique angle to the body axis Z). The base of the claw l thereby forms one forked portion of the bifurcated body and the other forked portion is indicated at 10 and it will be seen that the forked-portion 10 extends forwardly of the crotch 8. The cavity 9 terminates in a shank end abutment 11 which is disposed at an oblique angle to the handle axis cm and which. extends throughout the thickness of the claw portion. The abutment forked portion 10 terminates in a movable claw shoulder abutment 12 which faces toward the lifting side (Z and which is disposed at substantially right angles to the shank abutment 11. A pivot is indicated at 13 and the same fits bores in the forked portion of the extractor and in the movable claw, to be presently described, the alined bores being disposed at right angles to the shank of the movable claw and at oblique angle to the body axis 6. It will also be seen that the pivot 18 is disposed between the shank abutment 11 and the claw abut-V ment 12, for a purpose which will presently appear. The extractor body is provided with a spring receiving cavity 14:, having an end 15 against which latter one end of a coil spring 16, abuts.

The movable claw is indicated as a whole at 17 and is provided with a claw portion 18 having a gripping edge 19 which is inclined from the crotch 20, of said movable claw, to the terminal end 21 thereof. Thus the gripping edges 6 and 19 converge from the outer ends of the claws to the crotch points 8 and 20, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 2. The movable bar 18 is provided with a shank 22 which fits into the cavity 9 and which is disposed at an angle with respect to the claw portion 18, the juncture of the angular portions being the crotch point 20,

of the movable jaw. The shank 22 is provided with a bore 23 for extension therethrough of the pivot 13 which latter may be shrunk in the forked portions of the extractor body so as to be held firmly fixed therein. The bore 23, however, will be slightly larger in diameter than the pivot 13 so as to provide for free working movement of the movable jaw, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 4:. Now the shank 22, of the movable jaw, terminates in an abutment face 24 which abuts against and coacts with the shank abutment 11 to prevent movement of the movable jaw, under lifting or extracting stress, beyond the position shown in Fig. 1. However. the outer end of spring 16 abuts against the lower portion of the abutment face 24 and yields to permit movement of the movable claw toward the lifting side d. An abutment shoulder 25 is formed on the movable claw for engagement with the abutment shoulder 12 to also limit movement of the movable jaw beyond the position shown in Fig. 1 and reinforce the action of the shank against abutment 11. Thus it will be seen that while some strain will be imposed upon the pivot 13, the greater strain will be structurally transmitted from the movable claw directly to the shank and shoulder abutments.

As will be seen more particularly by reference to Fig. 5, the chamfered inner face 26, of the movable claw is reduced at 27 so as to form a relatively sharp longitudinally extending gripping edge, which is a feature of great importance owing to the fact that the movable jaw will adjust itself and will initiate the time of effective grip upon the shank of the nail or spike when extracting while I have herein shown and described,

one specific form of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims may import.

I claim:

1. In a nail extractor, an extractor body having a fixed claw provided with a crotch point and having a shank cavity extending from said crotch point at an oblique angle to the axis of said body and terminating in. a shank abutment, and a movable claw hav-' ing a shank pivoted in said cavity and terminating in a face shaped to engage said abutment; to limit movement of the pivoted claw beyond a predetermined point, substantially as described.

2. In a nail extractor, an extractor body having a fixed claw and'provided with a forked or bifurcated portion extending from the base of said fixed claw, said bifurcated portion having a shank abutment and one of the forked portions having a shoulder abutment, a movable claw having a shank extending into and pivoted in said bifurcated portion, said shank having a face for engagement with said shank abutment and a shoulder for engagement with said forked abutment to limit movement of said pivoted claw beyond a predetermined extent, substantially as described.

3. In a cleft extractor, a movable claw, and an extractor body provided with a fixed claw and having fixed portions engaging said movable claw to hold the latter toward the fixed claw when plying stress is applied to said body, and a spring for moving said movable claw away from said fixed claw, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of a witness.

CURTISS W. FINNEY. Witness:

EDNA BROYLES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0. i v V 

